Studies - Scene Characteristic Analysis

As with the study of computer architecture, the use of real applications
for the study of graphics architecture allows one to make meaningful
performance measurements and design decisions.

There are currently several test suites for graphics benchmarking. For
example, the Picture-Level
Benchmark test suite and the Viewperf test
suite are two sets of benchmarks available for measuring graphics
performance.

While benchmarks are useful for measuring performance, they are also useful
as a part of the architecture design process, where the scene
characteristics of applications can help make design decisions. Such
characteristics include the number and size of triangles in a given scene,
the average and maximum depth complexity of a scene, the type and
distribution of graphics commands used to render a scene, and the
complexity of the rendering options (e.g. texturing and lighting) used by
the scene.